Skin is a natural barrier against microbes. Surgery and other invasive medical procedures involve opening of a subject's skin and thus provide an opportunity for infectious microbes to enter and cause infection via a contaminated insertion or incision site.
Skin infections incurred as a response to treatment such as surgery, injection or catheter or intravenous line insertion are a substantial health care concern. For example, in the United States, approximately 46 million surgeries are performed annually and at least 1% of surgeries involve complication by a surgical site infection, resulting in some cases in increased length of hospital stay, increased morbidity and even increased rates of mortality.
Skin infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Gram-negative rods, and Candida species are of particular concern within a hospital setting, as such infections may be spread between patients and are difficult to control once such an infection takes hold.
For surgical wounds, contamination may occur during surgery or post-surgery while the surgical wound heals, particularly if the site of the surgical incision or insertion is not properly prepared before surgery or maintained after surgery. In order to reduce risk of contamination and infection, a surgical site can be disinfected prior to surgery in order to reduce microbial load on the skin at the time of surgery.